Weird and Wonderful Idioms

By Rebecca Connell 12/05/2011

It's easy enough to wheel out a few standard GCSE French Phrases, but "Une bière et un poulet frites" will only get you so far. They say the real spirit of a language is in its idioms, so Franceinlondon collected a few to help you roll with the natives...

Idioms and expressions:

Ah, la vache! (lit: oh, the cow!): oh my god!

A l’eau de rose (lit: with rose water): sentimental/soppy

A Toutes les sauces (lit: with all the sauces): in all sorts of ways

Au poil (lit: to a hair): perfect; flawless

Avoir la gueule de bois (lit: to have a wooden face): to have a hangover

Avoir le bourdon (lit: to have the bumblebee): to feel down/have the blues

Avoir le cafard (lit: to have the cockroach): be down in the dumps; have the blues

Avoir le démon de midi (lit: to have the midday demon): to have a midlife crisis

Avoir un chat dans la gorge (lit: to have a cat in your throat): to have a frog in your throat

Avoir une peur bleue de quelque chose (lit: to have the blue fear): to be scared stiff of something

Avoir une araignée au plafond (lit: to have a spider in the head): to have a screw loose